MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

The health and wellness industry has grown to be a US$4 trillion a year market. We’re bombarded with information every day – most of it contradictory – and it creates confusion about what you should and shouldn’t be doing, what’s right and wrong for you and what works and doesn’t. This module explores what health and wellness actually is, what the principles of wellness are, why you want health and wellness in your life, how your values and beliefs play a part and how you can create a powerful relationship with wellness that has YOU at the center of the equation.

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Objectives

1. Introduction to Health and Wellness – introduction to the course materials and explore personal expectations of this program. Understand what health and wellness really are and how the industry works.
2. The Current State of Play – look at where health and wellness currently stand, what the projection for growth of the industry is, the current level of participation and why there is an engagement crisis at all levels.
3. Health, Wellness and Wellbeing – explore health versus wellness, the ways in which they are different things but must always go together and how wellbeing fits into the picture.
4. Great Expectations – look at how expectations have changed over time, the weight of responsibility that comes with them and who expects what, when, how and why.
5. The Principles of Wellness – explore what can be achieved when a bespoke program is designed to meet the unique needs of an organization’s employees.
6. Benefits: Employers and Employees – explore the debate around whether the benefits of health and wellness programs are worthwhile, including looking at the impact that physical, mental and emotional health has on financial results, morale, motivation, satisfaction, engagement and stress reduction.
7. Organizational Change – understand what positive organizational culture looks like, why you need it to implement an effective health and wellness program, what your culture might be costing you and how a holistic approach can assist in making change management easier.
8. Personal Responsibility – understand the role of personal responsibility and the critical part it plays in the success of a health and wellness program.
9. Truth, Myths and Marketing Spin – learn how to see through the myths and marketing spin to source the information that empowers you to create the way forward that’s perfect for you.
10. Happiness – learn what happiness is, what the four states of happiness are and understand the important role that happiness plays in health and wellness.
11. Values – explore what values are, why you not only need but actually want them, how to develop values and how to use them to enhance your health and wellness once you have them.
12. Beliefs – understand what beliefs are, their role in your life, where they come from and whether they help or hinder your health and wellness.

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Strategies

1. Engage and elicit expectations for the program.
2. Introduce health and wellness and complete an exercise on current views of the effectiveness of health and wellness programs.
3. Set aside time to study the information, tools and resources in the workshop.
4. Set aside time to meet with their team to discuss the elements of the workshop.
5. Identify, and make a list of, the key personnel needed to participate in health and wellness discussions.
6. Participants to complete the exercises individually and then discuss as a group.
7. Allocate time to consider the current effectiveness of any health and wellness program in place.
8. Without conducting any in-depth research, identify any obviously missing elements from existing health and wellness programs.
9. Identify any elements that are working well from existing health and wellness programs.
10. Identify the convincing rationale for creating a bespoke health and wellness program.
11. Create a clear narrative regarding the need for a collaborative approach to creating the framework for a health and wellness program.
12. Set aside time to identify, and write down, what commitment you are prepared to make to your health and wellness journey.

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Tasks

1. Set aside time to read through course manuals and make notes.
2. Allocate time to read the workshop’s preliminary analysis.
3. Identify the key personnel needed to create an effective health and wellness program.
4. Ensure relationships are built with key personnel through regular meetings, discussion and gathering ideas.
5. Schedule a meeting within the next 30 days for participants to meet and discuss workshop.
6. Participate in small groups during the workshop to share observations and reflections.
7. Determine and schedule the time needed to dedicate each workshop.
8. Demonstrate preparedness, commitment and personal presence at each workshop.
9. Prepare questions, seek feedback and create a plan for personal growth.
10. Each exercise in the workshop must be fully completed by the participants, and they must share the process and outcomes with the group.
11. Participants should identify and put into practise the adjustments presented throughout the workshop in order to finish their project.
12. Participants are asked to go over resources for ideas and choose at least one new tool from the list to use.

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Introduction

The first workshop in the Simplified Wellness Program – Health and Wellness: An Introduction – focuses on demystifying the health and wellness industry so you can better understand how to move forwards in a way that allows you to thrive rather than just survive.

During this workshop, you’ll learn what health and wellness actually is, what the principles of wellness are, why you want health and wellness in your life, how your values and beliefs play a part and how you can create a powerful relationship with wellness that has YOU at the center of the equation.

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History

The term “wellness” has historical roots. Since the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, when the writings and leadership of a loosely connected group of American doctors and philosophers greatly influenced how we understand and talk about wellbeing today, wellness has gained popularity as a modern concept.

But the roots of wellness go back much further than that, even to ancient times. Aspects of the wellness idea have their beginnings in a number of intellectual, religious and medical revolutions that took place during the 19th Century in Europe and the United States. The principles of wellbeing can also be traced to the prehistoric societies of Asia, Greece, and Rome, whose historical traditions have had a profound impact on the contemporary wellness movement.

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Current Position

Today, the term “health and wellness” refers to a broad range of practices that support both physical and mental health, including yoga, healthy eating, personal grooming, weight loss, meditation, spa retreats, corporate wellness and wellness travel. Nearly 40 years after its founding, however, wellness is still not well understood and continues to be articulated by many people in different ways.

Since the opening of the first wellness center on the west coast of the United States, the idea of wellness has influenced American and international society, including professionals, clients and scientists. Thousands of records containing the phrase “wellness” are now found in scientific databases all over the world.

Particularly in practice, the term “wellness” is frequently oversimplified to mean “being well and healthy”. Wellness gyms, gardening businesses providing “wellness” services and even wellness pet food are now commonly available. This trend is global; one may purchase ‘wellness tuna fish’ or ‘wellness shower gel’ both in the United States and the Czech Republic, for example.

Globally, there are diverse interpretations of the wellness notion, and the term is frequently misused to sell products and services. Today, it can easily be characterized as a division between quasi-spiritual wellness and secular wellness:

• Secular wellness is based on science, personal responsibility, critical thinking, exercise and fitness, and a conscious search for additional meaning and purpose in life.
• Quasi/spiritual wellness is based on faith, emotions, supernaturalism, the recovery movement, wishful thinking, weepy/swaying, hand-holding, New Age mysticism and guru worship.

Numerous applications of wellness concepts can be found between these two poles of the present wellness movement, including those most frequently seen today being: workplace wellness, wellness coaching and wellness tourism.

Additionally, soaring healthcare costs create intense pressure that has forced a shift to wellness as the major focus of every individual, organization and government body.

This environment has seen traditional medical establishments and more governments turn their attention to wellness and prevention, chiefly as a result of the global epidemic of chronic diseases and obesity that has resulted in unaffordable healthcare expenses in this century. For instance, whereas in the 1990s the majority of academic medical facilities took a negative stance towards complementary medicine, today several of the world’s most prestigious institutions have departments of integrative medicine.

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Future Outlook

The perception of ‘healthy’ is the thing that has most likely undergone the biggest mental shift of the 21st Century.

In the history of humanity, wellness has never been a goal for such a sizable section of the people. The majority of human history has seen specific fitness and wellness activities restricted to specialized groups, while the general public perceived the influence of lifestyle on daily wellness as a natural occurrence.

Now, over 50% of people currently hold the active or latent belief that their health and wellbeing can be actively managed and promoted.

A portion of the population is motivated by the idea of holistic wellness, longevity, quality of life and permanently maintaining healthy vitals, even though for 90% of wellness seekers, health and wellness still remain driven by tangible parameters linked to rising individuality: looks, managing health conditions and entertainment.

Before the global pandemic of 2020-2021, the health and wellness industry generated approximately US$4 trillion per annum. It is now expected to reach over US$7.5 trillion by 2030, growing at a rate of approximately 5.5% each year.

New technologies and virtual worlds are being developed by the wellness sector, and they will radically alter how wellness is provided to customers worldwide.

Health

Consumers are spending more money on their health and are wanting easier access to inexpensive care. Additionally, after the pandemic, consumers are upgrading their level of health and safety and are willing to pay more for products with health-related brands.

As a result, the needs of various patient populations and the related effective care pathways will determine health in addition to other factors. The consumer-focused character of these ecosystems will also expand the variety of healthcare touchpoints available to alter patient behavior and enhance outcomes.

Fitness

The future of fitness is positioned to continue down a creative and forward-thinking route, where gradual and pressing requirements will be met by contemporary solutions. Fitness enthusiasts have faced difficulties over the last two pandemic-impacted years, while also learning important lessons.

The ability to successfully utilize technology to deliver immersive and cutting-edge experiences will determine the direction of fitness in the future. Fitness consumers have a greater chance to complete a work-out from home, be engaged and maintain their fitness levels thanks to the capabilities of fitness software, which can offer an integrated streaming service or integrate with wearable fitness equipment, for instance.

Nutrition

More people are interested in discovering a solution as a result of the increased focus on nutrition. Technology will become increasingly important in this as we develop.

Food monitoring, for instance, will assist businesses in identifying the origins and routes of their products. Better information access will change how people view food and its connection. Additionally, increased understanding of the catastrophic and pervasive repercussions of poor nutrition will eventually lead to the adoption of more capable, healthy and resilient eating habits.

We don’t need a choice; we need to return to the principles of good nutrition that allow our bodies and brains to function properly and live longer. On the front lines of this revolution will be battles over nutrition.

Being mindful

The pandemic has improved our knowledge of how susceptible our mental health is. We have witnessed firsthand how rapidly external circumstances and obstacles affect our emotions and actions, since they are directly impacted by both our physical health and the external environment. We’ve even come to appreciate the power and adaptability of the human intellect. It’s also conceivable that artificial intelligence may get to the point where it can offer basic medical assistance.

In the upcoming decades, practically all product and service offers will include wellness as standard. It will eventually become the focal point around which solutions are developed. By this time, it will be commonplace to believe that anything created or provided by any corporation will improve outcomes in terms of health and fitness. This is comparable to how, in the 1950s and 1960s, quality and safety elements gradually crept into every product and service offered.

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Executive Summary

The first workshop in the Simplified Wellness Program – Health and Wellness: An Introduction, focuses on understanding what health and wellness actually is, where the health and wellness industry is currently, what’s possible and how you can create a completely new relationship with your health and wellness to move forwards in a different way.

The health and wellness industry covers many areas, has millions of providers and generates over US$4 trillion a year. Aside from the pharmaceutical and medical portion of the industry, there’s little regulation and many people with varied opinions and beliefs.

There’s a lot of noise, a lot of sales and often a big spiral that keeps people trapped. This workshop aims to assist you in cutting through the ‘stuff’, giving you the information you need to understand how the industry works, and then providing you with simple but effective steps you can take to start moving your life in the direction that’s right for you.

This workshop has 12 focus areas. Here’s what they cover:

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Chapter 1: Introduction to Health and Wellness

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is defined as being a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. It’s critical to comprehend how wellness is related to health in order to appreciate its significance. The achievement of improved physical and mental health results – and to thrive rather than just survive – means that we need to practice healthy behaviors on a regular basis.

There’s so much information available at our fingertips now – more than ever before. There’s also no clear pathway, or one solution, that works for everyone – despite the results that are promised by providers in the marketplace. It’s confusing and it can be hard to know where to start.

Understanding what health and wellness really is, and how the industry works, will help you in all aspects of your life.

In this focus area you will learn what health and wellness is, why you want them, the principles of wellness and the eight dimensions of wellness.

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Chapter 2: The Current State of Play

Mental health has rapidly become the number one focus of organizations around the globe. Although, as the first focus area of this workshop shows, mental health is only one plank of wellbeing, it has fast become the only one that individuals are focusing on. Research is being conducted around the globe on all aspects of mental health and, as a result, organizations are beginning to focus their wellness programs in this area.

Despite its high profile, there remains a small percentage of participation in wellness programs by both organizations and individuals. Furthermore, most of these programs are implemented with unclear tactics and benefits and therefore provide small, short-term gains.

In this focus area you will learn where things are currently, what the projection for growth of the industry is, the current level of participation and why there is an engagement crisis at all levels of the programs that are in place.

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Chapter 3: Health, Wellness and Wellbeing

Health and wellness are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they do have different meanings.

Understanding the difference between the two is a great place to start on a journey to wellness – both within an organization and also as individuals.

Workplace wellness boosts both employee health and an organization’s financial bottom line. Developing a culture of health and wellness at work enhances employee lives, maintains staff morale, and contributes to an organization’s success.

In this focus area you’ll learn why health and wellness are separate things but must always go together, the difference between health and wellness and also the difference between wellness and wellbeing.

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Chapter 4: Great Expectations

In every employer/employee relationship, a set of expectations is formed. Over time, as the relationship grows and develops, expectations also grow but often lines of communication become blurred.

There’s always a weight that comes with carrying any expectation and the weight of expectations around health and wellness can be a significant burden to carry over time.

In 2019, the WHO redefined burnout in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and stated that it is an ‘Occupational Phenomenon’ (World Health Organization ICD-11, 2019), linked to stress at work, that can be defined as including depleted energy, exhaustion, negativity, cynicism and reduced productivity.

This seemed to point the finger squarely at organizations to ‘fix’ the growing stress and burnout issues being experienced around the globe. However, it also led to the conundrum of organizations needing to provide health and wellness solutions that were effective for each and every individual in their employ.

In this focus area you’ll learn about the weight of expectations, the judgement and criticism that occurs when it appears to go wrong, unconscious bias and behaviors and who expects what, when, how and why.

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Chapter 5: The Principles of Wellness

The thing to understand is that it doesn’t matter where you are starting from. Rather, what’s most important is to understand where you’re going, so you can create a simple and effective plan to get your there.

Around the globe, organizations and individuals are turning their focus to make health and wellness a priority.

The critical thing to get right at the start is the creation of a bespoke program that is as unique as the individuals in your organization, and that starts with providing tools and resources that every individual can tailor to their unique circumstances.

In this focus area you’ll learn how to turn your attention to the things you can do, rather than be constrained by the things that can’t be done. You’ll discover how to create simple and effective steps to build sustainable wellbeing, the importance of creating healthier people and workplaces and the ultimate way to allow everyone the perfect work/life blend.

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Chapter 6: Benefits: Employers and Employees

To date there’s been much debate about whether there are any benefits to employers for providing wellness programs, or to employees for participating in them.

Workplace wellness programs have a longer history than most people know, with the first programs originating in the early 1900s when labor unions campaigned for worker’s rights and as business owners saw the value of having a healthy, rested workforce.

Since then, the workforce has shifted with the changing tides of society, and there has been a rapid and significant change in the way we work. Despite this, the focus on health and wellness hasn’t really changed in response.

In this focus area you’ll learn the benefits of a holistic, bespoke wellness program that is designed to meet the unique needs of your workforce. You’ll discover why the physical, mental and emotional health in your individuals will lead to boosts in financial results, morale, motivation, satisfaction, engagement and significant stress reduction.

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Chapter 7: Organizational Change

Organizational change plays a critical role in trying to do anything differently in the workplace. Change is embraced by some and actively avoided by others, and then there are those who point-blank refuse to consider anything that remotely resembles change.

But in order to keep up and remain competitive – or even to lead – in our ever-evolving business world, organizations often need to implement enterprise-wide changes that can affect their people, processes or products – and often all three at the same time.

It can be challenging to successfully implement organizational change, so it’s crucial to do everything you can to give the change you’re trying to make the greatest chance of success.

In this focus area you’ll learn what positive organizational culture is, the difference between good and bad culture, what your culture may be costing you and how a holistic approach can assist you to make the change management process easier.

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Chapter 8: Personal Responsibility

The key piece that’s missing from most corporate health and wellness programs is that of the personal responsibility of each individual for their own wellbeing.

The WHO may have redefined burnout in 2019, linking it to workplace stress, but there is only so much that organizations can do to assist their employees in taking charge of their health and wellness.

Personal responsibility is the key component that must be explored for individuals to experience great health and wellness over a sustained period of time.

In this focus area you’ll learn what personal responsibility is and where it has ‘gone wrong’ up until now. You’ll also learn why personal responsibility is imperative, how to take control of it, how to change your perspective around it and the power that introducing questions into your daily life can give you when you’re in the process of taking back control.

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Chapter 9: Truth, Myths and Marketing Spin

The health and wellness industry grows exponentially every year, through the use of clever marketing campaigns that blur the lines between what’s true for you, the myths that have been used to keep people locked into diet and exercise fad cycles for decades, and the marketing spin that is based around triggering fears to make you jump on to the ‘next best thing’.

In this focus area you’ll learn how to source information that is true for you and your circumstances, how you will know what’s true and therefore be able to see through the myths and the marketing spin. In doing so, you will empower yourself to create the way forward that’s perfect for you.

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Chapter 10: Happiness

So many of us believe that we will be happy once we have all our ‘ducks in a row’ and we’ve achieved success. Scientific studies show us that there are three things that make most people happy, and they’re all independent from being successful. Why, then, is it necessary to be happy? Many aspects of life, including marriage, friendship, income, productivity at work, and health, are more successful for happy people.

People who are joyful are less likely to get sick and have milder symptoms when they do. People who are content are friendlier and have stronger social networks.

In this focus area you’ll learn what happiness is, the four states of happiness, how happiness impacts your health and wellness, why being happy is a choice, the myths about happiness, what you can do to create happiness and where your barriers to happiness come from.

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Chapter 11: Values

Do you know what values you hold?

It’s only in recent years that values have begun to be talked about, but if you don’t know what your values are, it makes it next to impossible to choose what matters most in your life.

Values play a critical role in creating the health and wellness program that is perfect for you. But first you must understand what values are on a broader level in order to respond to this question.

Your values are the things you hold dear in terms of how you live and do business. Your priorities should be based on them, and you presumably use them to gauge whether your life is going in the direction you want it to go.

This is why it’s so crucial to deliberately consider your ideals.

In this focus area you’ll learn what values are, why you need and want them, what role they play, how they work for you, how to develop them and how to use them once they’re developed.

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Chapter 12: Beliefs

For generations there’s been confusion about what beliefs are and the role they play in our lives. This confusion stems from most people being unaware that beliefs stem from a place well beyond the religious connotation that they’ve been given.

The reality is that we hold beliefs about a lot of things, most of them unconsciously. Some beliefs are supported by evidence, some not. Whether they’re supported by evidence or not doesn’t matter; they’re still beliefs.

What most people aren’t aware of, however, is that your beliefs govern the way you experience your life. If you aren’t consciously questioning and probing your beliefs, then they can cause your life to stagnate. As a result you become stuck in the same position, and seriously impacting your ability to grow and develop.

You end up retreating within what you’ve done before, rather than consistently pushing and questioning your views and being willing to find new perspectives and think otherwise about the opportunities available to you.

And that creates vulnerability in a world that is changing quickly.

In this focus area you’ll learn what beliefs are, their role in your life, where they come from, the justification you create for them, whether they’re a help or a hindrance and how to evolve and change your beliefs over time.

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Curriculum

Simplified Wellness – Workshop 1 – Health & Wellness: An Introduction

1. Introduction to Health & Wellness
2. The Current State of Play
3. Health, Wellness and Well-being
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